We at Hip-Hop Wired are staunch believers in and even advocates of Black Twitter (see: HHW’s annual Black Twitter 100). The Los Angeles Times has taken things a step further by actually hiring a writer to cover the Black Twitter beat.
Reports Poynter:
Los Angeles Times Managing Editor S. Mitra Kalita announced in a memo to staff on Monday that the Times has added a reporter to cover Black Twitter.
Dexter Thomas joins us today to cover Black Twitter (which really is so much more complicated than that). He will work closely with the newsroom and #EmergingUS to find communities online (Black Medium to Latino Tumblr to Line in Japan) and both create stories with and pull stories from those worlds. Dexter is from San Bernardino and is a doctoral candidate in East Asian studies at Cornell University. He has taught media studies and Japanese and is writing a book about Japanese hip-hop. He began working in digital media at UC Riverside as a student director of programming at KUCR-FM (88.3), independently producing podcasts, music and news programs. He writes regularly on social justice, Internet and youth culture, and video games.
Black Twitter can manifest itself in many ways, whether it’s fostering activism (see #BlackLivesMatter) or erupting in hilarious jokes (see: this weekend’s #CookoutNewsNetwork hashtag).
And no, it’s not a form of reverse racism. Now you’re just trolling.
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Photo: Twitter/BET screen cap
